The present invention relates to a process for the formation of a spatial chip arrangement having several chips arranged in several planes and electrically connected to one another, in which the chips are connected via their peripheral connection surfaces to assigned conducting paths of a conducting-path structure which is arranged on at least one carrier substrate by the chips being arranged transverse to the longitudinal extent of the carrier substrate.
With the increasing miniaturisation of electronic appliances such as portable telephone for example, also generally designated as “handy”, or portable computers, known by the expression “notebook”, the demands regarding integration density of the electronic modules employed therein also increase. To a particular degree this is unquestionably the case with memory modules which are utilized in such appliances or memory expansions which may be used optionally. At the present time, by way of structural design for such highly integrated memory modules use is made as a rule of so-called “multi-chip modules” (MCM) in which the individual chips are arranged above one another and electrically connected to one another. By reason of the high integration density—that is to say, the arrangement of a plurality of chips within an extremely small space—the probability of failure of such a memory module also increases of course, since for failure of a component it is sufficient if only one of the chips which are processed in a plurality is defective. In order to be able to eliminate failure of a component to the greatest possible extent during operation of the highly integrated modules, an examination of the modules has hitherto been undertaken after completion and prior to delivery or incorporation into the electronic appliance in question. This is associated, on the one hand, with an additional component test following the actual manufacturing process. On the other hand, the implementation of a component test only after finishing the complete component means that in the event of a component failure, which as a rule is caused only by the failure of an individual chip, the entire component is rejected.